With just a couple of weeks left before the PGA Championship and the second major of the season, Jordan Spieth has made a flurry of changes to his equipment setup, hoping to prepare himself as he looks to capture the final missing piece of a career Grand Slam.
The three-time major champion is taking on the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course, with a new driver, 3-wood, and even more importantly, a new golf ball.
After one round, admittedly a small sample size, the changes are paying dividends, with Spieth opening the Cadillac Championship in 7-under 65.
Spieth, who had still been playing Titleist TSR2 driver and TSR3 3-wood, made the jump into the newest lineup of Titleist recently launched on the PGA Tour.
The more eye-catching move in Spieth’s setup features a swap from the Titleist Pro V1x to the lower-spinning Pro V1x Left Dash.
“I’ve always played the highest pin spinning ball because I thought I needed it in the long irons,” Spieth said after his first round. “Now with this whatever my makeup is and then just kind of added speed my spin rates have been fine if not too high. So it’s actually kind of nice to be able to drop it down a little bit.”
It’s not the first change in golf ball that Spieth has made, but it’s the most significant in characteristic changes of the ones he can remember.
“I did ball change in Palm Beach last year, so I did that mid-season, but I did it to a ball that was a little more similar,” Spieth added. “I went from the ’21 to the ’25 X. And those balls weren’t super different. This is a little bit bigger jump. But I hit enough shots to feel confident that it was better for me than what I was playing.”
While the golf ball change was changed due to explanation, the 3-wood came after Spieth cracked the face on his older TSR3 3-wood. With the swap to the new GTS lineup, Spieth decided to match the shaft in the fairway wood to that of his driver. But the experiment is still ongoing.
“I’m not sure if that’s a winner yet,” Spieth said. “It’s kind of a trial run. I didn’t hit it great today so I’m going to go hit a few on the range and continue to fall in love with it.”
Hard to complain, though, after matching his lowest opening-round score on Tour since 2023.
Koepka, Cleveland/Srixon call quits
AVONDALE, LOUISIANA – APRIL 23: Brooks Koepka of the United States plays his shot from the fifth tee during the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2026 at TPC Louisiana on April 23, 2026 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka and Dunlop Sports Americas, the parent company of Srixon and Cleveland Golf, announced Thursday the parties had “mutually agreed to conclude their endorsement partnership,” effective immediately.
“Brooks has served as an exceptional brand ambassador for the Srixon and Cleveland Golf brands,” a press release from Dunlop Sports Americas reads. “His commitment to competing at the highest level of the game, including a major championship victory with Srixon and Cleveland Golf equipment in play exemplified the performance standard both brands stand for.”
Koepka, who was not in the field at Doral, signed a multi-year deal with Srixon and Cleveland in late 2021. From that point, he played their irons and wedges, but jumped around with the top end of his bag. Srixon also developed a ball specifically for Koepka, which was shortly thereafter announced as the Srixon Z-STAR Diamond. But during the time Koepka was signed to the two companies, he returned to a Titleist Pro V1x on two occasions, once for the 2022 U.S. Open, and then most recently this year at the Cognizant Classic.
Koepka was previously a Nike staffer until the company decided to leave the golf equipment manufacturing business in 2016.
So what’s next for Koepka? Read more here on the situation.
McLaren Golf enters the grid
It’s not every day that a new equipment manufacturer enters the golf space. Well, McLaren Golf did just that in Miami.
“It’s been obviously, from my point of view, the news of the week, for sure,” newly minted McLaren Golf ambassador Justin Rose said pre-tournament.
It was a surprise for many to see Rose switching equipment, especially after already winning this season. He also currently ranks seventh in Strokes Gained: Approach on the PGA Tour; an interesting nuance for somebody switching the tools he’s used to perform so highly. But for Rose, it has been something in the pipeline for over a year.
“McLaren Golf has been something that’s been on the back burner for a good number of months,” Rose said Tuesday ahead of the Cadillac Championship. “… It’s something I’ve been involved with from the outset.”
The real question on everyone’s lips tough … how are the clubs performing?
“Clubs are feeling great,” Rose said.
But, it’s not the first time Rose has decided to change equipment to a lesser-played brand on Tour. In 2019, the Englishman at the time, who was ranked second in the Official World Golf Ranking, moved to Honma Golf. It came after representing TaylorMade as a staffer for almost 20 years, with whom he won the 2013 U.S. Open, 2016 Olympic Gold medal and 2018 FedEx Cup.
In less than two weeks after Rose signed the multiyear contract with the Japanese-based golf company Honma, he was world No. 1 and earned their first victory at the Farmers Insurance Open. The honeymoon period soon wore off, and the following year Rose was already testing different brands in his bag.
Rose says he’s learned from his previous experience and also the time he’s spent as an equipment-free agent.
“I’ve learned so much from being brand agnostic for a while that I kind of have my own preference list now,” Rose explained. “I feel like I’m in an environment where I can take all my preferences to one place where they can execute on that for me.”
Read more on Rose’s reaction to joining MCLaren golf here, and check out the tech behind the Series 1 and 3 irons here.
JT back to the blade
While one Justin in the field has been somewhat monopolizing the equipment headlines at the 2026 Cadillac Championship, another has been flying under the radar with a pretty significant switch of their own.
Rose may have signed with McLaren Golf, but Justin Thomas is also flaunting some different equipment at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course. He’s not using brand-new sticks but has made a significant switch in the putter department, ditching the Scotty Cameron Phantom 5 Tour Prototype in favor of a Newport 2 GSS. It’s a switch he made provisionally during the RBC Heritage.
“Something cool about Justin, always travels with a Newport 2,” said Drew Page, Scotty Cameron Tour rep, in a social video. “Not many people know about this with him, but (Thomas) always travels with a Newport 2.
“… Grew up playing a Newport 2 Scotty Cameron,” Page added. “Just something he can go back to if the mallet’s not working.”
Well, for Thomas, the mallet was not working during his last start at the RBC Heritage, and the catalyst for prompting a mid-tournament switch to his backup Newport 2 GSS.
In his title defense at Harbour Town Golf Links, Thomas lost over 6.5 strokes on the greens through the first two rounds, leaving him 9-over at the halfway stage, after carding a lackluster 76 and 75 to start.
With the Newport 2 in hand for the weekend on Hilton Head Island, Thomas gained over 1.5 strokes putting and an eight-shot improvement overall in scoring, finishing 70-66.
“It all comes down to how the putter is sitting for him right now,” Page told GolfWRX ahead of the Cadillac Championship. “(Thomas) feels his hands and alignment are in the best spot naturally. It’s the simplicity a blade can offer as opposed to mallets, as we did some testing with other mallets over the last 10 days.”
Check out more on Thomas’ switch here and why the blade stayed.
Saving weight on wedges
Ryan Gerard might not be cleanly shaven, but his wedges are.
His custom Vokey wedges feature, or should it say, do not feature the traditional BV logo. It’s because the team decided to grind away most of the head where the insignia should be.
According to Vokey wedge rep Aaron Dill, the reason for the logoless wedges is for “weight removal,” as Gerard is “over length and has swing weights to hit.”
Standing at 6-foot-2-inches, Gerard plays longer than standard clubs to help with his arm length and posture, along with just being comfortable over the ball.
Quick Hits
Tommy Fleetwood replaced a wedge with a long iron. The Englishman opted for a TaylorMade P770 4-iron instead of a wedge, leaving him with a setup consisting of driver, mini driver, 5-wood, 9-wood, 4-PW, 52 and 60-degree. Nicolai Højgaard became the latest member of the Odyssey Damascus club. He added a Damascus Milled Jailbird Mini for the added feel. Maverick McNealy added the GTS3 to his bag.